Categories

     当你想要为某个 class 新增 methods，你通常会扩充（extend，即继承）它。然而这不一定是个完美解法，特别是你想要重写一个 class 的某个功能，但你却没有原始码时。Categories 允许你在现有的 class 加入新功能，但不需要扩充它。Ruby 语言也有类似的功能。

FractionMath.h #import "Fraction.h" @interface Fraction (Math) -(Fraction*) add: (Fraction*) f; -(Fraction*) mul: (Fraction*) f; -(Fraction*) div: (Fraction*) f; -(Fraction*) sub: (Fraction*) f; @end FractionMath.m #import "FractionMath.h" @implementation Fraction (Math) -(Fraction*) add: (Fraction*) f { return [[Fraction alloc] initWithNumerator: numerator * [f denominator] + denominator * [f numerator] denominator: denominator * [f denominator]]; } -(Fraction*) mul: (Fraction*) f { return [[Fraction alloc] initWithNumerator: numerator * [f numerator] denominator: denominator * [f denominator]]; } -(Fraction*) div: (Fraction*) f { return [[Fraction alloc] initWithNumerator: numerator * [f denominator] denominator: denominator * [f numerator]]; } -(Fraction*) sub: (Fraction*) f { return [[Fraction alloc] initWithNumerator: numerator * [f denominator] - denominator * [f numerator] denominator: denominator * [f denominator]]; } @end main.m #import <stdio.h> #import "Fraction.h" #import "FractionMath.h" int main( int argc, const char *argv[] ) { // create a new instance Fraction *frac1 = [[Fraction alloc] initWithNumerator: 1 denominator: 3]; Fraction *frac2 = [[Fraction alloc] initWithNumerator: 2 denominator: 5]; Fraction *frac3 = [frac1 mul: frac2]; // print it [frac1 print]; printf( " * " ); [frac2 print]; printf( " = " ); [frac3 print]; printf( "/n" ); // free memory [frac1 release]; [frac2 release]; [frac3 release]; return 0; } output 1/3 * 2/5 = 2/15 

 重点是 @implementation 跟 @interface 这两行：@interface Fraction (Math) 以及 @implementation Fraction (Math).（同一个 class）只能有一个同名的 category，其他的 categories 得加上不同的、独一无二的名字。

 Categories 在建立 private methods 时十分有用。因为 Objective-C 并没有像 Java 这种 private/protected/public methods 的概念，所以必须要使用 categories 来达成这种功能。作法是把 private method 从你的 class header (.h) 档案移到 implementation (.m) 档案。以下是此种作法一个简短的范例。

MyClass.h #import <Foundation/NSObject.h> @interface MyClass: NSObject -(void) publicMethod; @end MyClass.m #import "MyClass.h" #import <stdio.h> @implementation MyClass -(void) publicMethod { printf( "public method/n" ); } @end // private methods @interface MyClass (Private) -(void) privateMethod; @end @implementation MyClass (Private) -(void) privateMethod { printf( "private method/n" ); } @end main.m #import "MyClass.h" int main( int argc, const char *argv[] ) { MyClass *obj = [[MyClass alloc] init]; // this compiles [obj publicMethod]; // this throws errors when compiling //[obj privateMethod]; // free memory [obj release]; return 0; } output public method